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Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication
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'Tiny numbers' are actually tiny: Evidence from gestures in the TV News Archive
Greg Woodin1, Bodo Winter1, Marcus Perlman1
1English Language & Linguistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Plos One
|November 17, 2020
Summary
Speakers use distinct hand gestures to convey numerical size metaphors, like "large number." Gestures with open hands and wider movements signify greater quantities, supporting the link between embodied cognition and language.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
- Psychology
Background:
- Metaphorical language is common in describing abstract concepts.
- Numerical quantities are often described using spatial metaphors related to physical size.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively investigate manual gestures accompanying metaphorical descriptions of numerical quantities.
- To determine if real-world communication reflects lab-based findings on size-quantity associations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 681 videos from the TV News Archive featuring speakers using size-based numerical quantity phrases.
- Quantitative coding of manual gestures (hand configuration, movement, hand distance) associated with phrases like 'tiny number' and 'large number'.
Main Results:
- Speakers predominantly used open hand configurations, outward movements, and wider hand distances for larger quantities versus smaller quantities.
- Gesture patterns were more pronounced for extreme adjectives (e.g., 'tiny', 'huge').
- No significant differences were found in one-handed vs. two-handed or right-handed vs. left-handed gestures related to quantity.
Conclusions:
- Manual gestures actively contribute to the communication of numerical size metaphors.
- Findings support the embodied cognition theory, showing size-based numerical associations are active in naturalistic communication.
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